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101st out of 114 books
—
7 voters
By Nightfall
Peter and Rebecca Harris: mid-forties denizens of Manhattan’s SoHo, nearing the apogee of committed careers in the arts—he a dealer, she an editor. With a spacious loft, a college-age daughter in Boston, and lively friends, they are admirable, enviable contemporary urbanites with every reason, it seems, to be happy. Then Rebecca’s much younger look-alike brother, Ethan (kn...more
Hardcover, 238 pages
Published
September 28th 2010
by Farrar, Straus and Giroux
(first published January 1st 2010)
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I know a book is brilliant when after I finish it a voice in my chest says, "Yes, I will read this again one day." This has happened with every book by Michael Cunningham I have read. 'A Home at the End of the World', 'The Hours', 'Flesh & Blood', and now 'By Nightfall.'
By Nightfall is a wonderful book, a beautiful book about art, New York, money, family, death. If you give yourself to it, you will find the doors of your perception cleansed. That is how we are able to experience beauty. To m...more
By Nightfall is a wonderful book, a beautiful book about art, New York, money, family, death. If you give yourself to it, you will find the doors of your perception cleansed. That is how we are able to experience beauty. To m...more
(Update, 4/2/13: reading Elaine Scarry's On Beauty and Being Just, in which she urges that not only does beauty not distract us from justice, but leads us to embrace it -- she writes, "anyone who sets out in the morning to defend beauty will surely by nightfall have arrived at the strategy of claiming that beauty assists justice," and I think that Cunningham's book acts out a number of premises embedded in her theory of aesthetics -- the search for beauty here distracts Peter from the good, but...more
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I seem to like everything Cunningham writes; I simply like his style. He writes a lot of interior monologue (here it is the main character, Peter Harris, an art dealer in Manhattan, whose thoughts we share), and normally, I don't like that very much, but with Cunningham, I do. I admit that sometimes this style can be a little too much (it's the same thing with Virginia Woolf) and you find yourself thinking "Come on, now stop whining and get a life!!" But in the next line, it all makes sense agai...more
Dit is zo'n boek waar je van houdt of waar je echt niets mee kunt. Niet iedereen houdt van boeken waarin in feite weinig gebeurt, een boek dat werkt omdat het zo 'stil' is.
Peter Harris is getrouwd met Rebecca en woont in New York. Beide hebben een fulltime baan: Peter handelt in kunst en Rebecca is redacteur bij een tijdschrift. Een leven dat vol lijkt: vrienden, familie, liefde.
Het verhaal dat verteld wordt begint met de belofte dat Mizzy, ofwel Ethan: de jonge broer van Rebecca, een tijdje bij...more
Peter Harris is getrouwd met Rebecca en woont in New York. Beide hebben een fulltime baan: Peter handelt in kunst en Rebecca is redacteur bij een tijdschrift. Een leven dat vol lijkt: vrienden, familie, liefde.
Het verhaal dat verteld wordt begint met de belofte dat Mizzy, ofwel Ethan: de jonge broer van Rebecca, een tijdje bij...more
I read Michael Cunningham's first novel,
A Home at the End of the World
last month, and wholly enjoyed it. Nearly as much as The Hours, but the bookishness of the latter (or, perhaps I should say, the Woolfishness) left it in the lead for my favourite Michael Cunningham book. It's still secure in its positioning now that I've read By Nightfall.
One of the things that I most enjoyed about his other novels is the way they were brimming with interconnections (if you've read The Hours, you know exa...more
One of the things that I most enjoyed about his other novels is the way they were brimming with interconnections (if you've read The Hours, you know exa...more
Most of this book takes place in Peter Harris's head, and not much "action" happens. So, I could see how a lot of people would get turned off by this book, and I'll admit that for most of it, I wasn't quite sure where it was heading or what the point of it was. On the surface, it might seem difficult to sympathize with this man who's problems include, but aren't limited to, that he finds his wife not as beautiful as she used to be, his college-age daughter isn't as brilliant or interesting as he...more
I found this to be a very s-l-o-w read. The narrator of the book is unlikeable to me and too whiny for my taste. I could not bring myself to feel for the characters of the book. The ending was so anti-climatic, just go about your business.
This is not Cunninghma's best work.
This is not Cunninghma's best work.
7 likes · like · see review
Will Peter come to terms with the fact that he has homosexual feelings for his wife's brother? Will Rebecca sell her NYC-based magazine to a guy in Montana? Will Ethan/Mizzy (short for Mistake) turn back to drugs? Will Bea ever forgive her rich father for not being the dad that she wanted him to be? Will Peter find a work of art for his snobbish client's English garden that doesn't send her friends' dogs into epileptic seizures? Tune in tomorrow for another tale of The Rich and Boring.
BY NIGHTF...more
BY NIGHTF...more
The dialogue of Cunningham's "By Nightfall" is rich and thick and real - this doesn't read like characterizations, it is as if the audience is overhearing a conversation between a New York couple, both within the home and at work. The novel focuses more on the husband, Peter, who works as an art gallery curator. He appears happily married to his wife Rebecca and the scenes between the two, both remembered from twenty years ago during the adolescence of their relationship, and in the present day...more
Elegant, sexy, achingly familiar to the point that I had to put it down and say: He knows me. Is that really me?
What's it about? It's about how when you're young you long for and fear life at the same moment; when you're not young you regard the young, as happens here, and long for life and fear that your life has been spent. And then, finally, you learn to look away. The book is over before you know it, but it rides with you, next to you, on the subway, in the bus, in the elevator to your apart...more
What's it about? It's about how when you're young you long for and fear life at the same moment; when you're not young you regard the young, as happens here, and long for life and fear that your life has been spent. And then, finally, you learn to look away. The book is over before you know it, but it rides with you, next to you, on the subway, in the bus, in the elevator to your apart...more
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Middle-aged art dealer discovers he is encountering a mid-life crisis when confronted by an unexpected romantic attachment to his wife's feckless but beautiful younger brother.
First time I've encountered Cunningham and his take on the angst of the New York arty set - a bit like a homo-erotically charged Woody Allen. There's no doubt Cunningham has a pleasing and very distinctive literary voice. It takes awhile to get into his virtuoso rythems - this is a guy who can shift from classical third pe...more
First time I've encountered Cunningham and his take on the angst of the New York arty set - a bit like a homo-erotically charged Woody Allen. There's no doubt Cunningham has a pleasing and very distinctive literary voice. It takes awhile to get into his virtuoso rythems - this is a guy who can shift from classical third pe...more
Michael Cunningham is perhaps best known for his novel "The Hours". That book won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and was successfully adapted for the screen (the film was an Oscar winner). I haven't read it but, on the evidence of "By Nightfall", I am in no hurry to do so (or to read any of Cunningham's other books). "By Nightfall" is one of the dullest and least enjoyable novels that I have read for a very long time.
Peter and Rebecca Harris are middle-class forty somethings who live in a chic l...more
Peter and Rebecca Harris are middle-class forty somethings who live in a chic l...more
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I haven'�t read all that much of Michael Cunningham�'s work. I liked The Hours well enough, but it hinged on a gimmick, and I might have appreciated it more if I�d ever read Mrs. Dalloway (I still haven�t, and it�s not on the horizon. Judge me if you must). Cunningham�'s most recent novel, By Nightfall, stands on its own.
Peter and Rebecca Harris are in that early-midlife phase that can call a lot into question for people; the kids are leaving home, the career may be comfortable but stalled, and...more
Peter and Rebecca Harris are in that early-midlife phase that can call a lot into question for people; the kids are leaving home, the career may be comfortable but stalled, and...more
It would be difficult for anything to compare to Michael Cunningham’s utterly beautiful Pulitzer Prize–winning novel The Hours, but his latest offering has that same dark and poignant charm, and is equally, if not more so, compelling.
By Nightfall is about finding beauty and desire in surprising places – and what happens when that desire is focused on objects that don’t deserve it. The story is narrated by Peter Harris, a gallery-owner stuck in a quiet sort of midlife crisis. He goes about his da...more
By Nightfall is about finding beauty and desire in surprising places – and what happens when that desire is focused on objects that don’t deserve it. The story is narrated by Peter Harris, a gallery-owner stuck in a quiet sort of midlife crisis. He goes about his da...more
Peter and Rebecca Harris, a married couple with a daughter, Beatrice, off seeking a life in Boston, are falling desperately into the complacency of married life. They work, successfully, in the art world, and Peter is on the cusp of a major breakthrough – signing an up and coming artist. Then into their boring life walks Mizzy – ‘the mistake’ – Rebecca’s handsome, troubled youth of a brother. Mizzy brings drug dealers to their door, is blasé about his attire, and seems to live a life alien to Pe...more
“By Nightfall” Michael Cunningham. 2/5/12
The best book I’ve read since—Mario Vargas Llosa’s “The Feast of the Goat.” Really? Two masterpieces within a month? Karma is doing me a favor; Fortuna’s wheel, in my case, travels heavenward.
Wow. “By Nightfall.” Wow. I had truly forgotten about Cunningham, though I list him as my favorites, and now it is crystal clear why. I was uber-impressed by “Specimen Days,” a book the literati have literally forgotten. That was an exercise in genre mixing, of wild...more
The best book I’ve read since—Mario Vargas Llosa’s “The Feast of the Goat.” Really? Two masterpieces within a month? Karma is doing me a favor; Fortuna’s wheel, in my case, travels heavenward.
Wow. “By Nightfall.” Wow. I had truly forgotten about Cunningham, though I list him as my favorites, and now it is crystal clear why. I was uber-impressed by “Specimen Days,” a book the literati have literally forgotten. That was an exercise in genre mixing, of wild...more
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Oh, yay: another novel about a rich white dude who works in Manhattan’s art world! I’ve never read any other literary fiction like this!
(Heavy sarcasm.)
The rich white dude in question is Peter, a (happily?) married man who is thrown off-kilter by a visit from his wife’s beautiful, (recovering?) drug addict brother, Mizzy. Dot dot dot. (No spoilers, but this is Cunningham – of course there’s tortured gay love!)
There are elements of a good story here, and Cunningham’s beautiful prose is in full ef...more
(Heavy sarcasm.)
The rich white dude in question is Peter, a (happily?) married man who is thrown off-kilter by a visit from his wife’s beautiful, (recovering?) drug addict brother, Mizzy. Dot dot dot. (No spoilers, but this is Cunningham – of course there’s tortured gay love!)
There are elements of a good story here, and Cunningham’s beautiful prose is in full ef...more
3 likes · like · see review
This is a story about malaise. And whining. It's the malaise that accompanies privilege and success and middle age too, I guess. It's a very whiny story about a whiny guy. The main character is a successful art dealer in Manhattan. He's middle age and yet still brimming with teen angst. Most of the characters in the book are completely self-absorbed. Blech.
I thought Cunningham's writing style was OK. The book was a light and fast read, and the ending was not bad. But it's a tough slog when you h...more
I thought Cunningham's writing style was OK. The book was a light and fast read, and the ending was not bad. But it's a tough slog when you h...more
I almost didn't read this book. After the unremarkable The Hours, and the downright lousy Specimen Days, I began to worry that Michael Cunningham was on a downward slide (rather how I feel about Kazuo Ishiguro).
I loved A Home at the End of the World and Flesh And Blood, but they were, in many ways, the same book. So I feared that the best I could hope for from this book was an end to a repetitive trilogy.
I was pleasantly surprised. It was decidedly better than his recent works, and not a redux o...more
I loved A Home at the End of the World and Flesh And Blood, but they were, in many ways, the same book. So I feared that the best I could hope for from this book was an end to a repetitive trilogy.
I was pleasantly surprised. It was decidedly better than his recent works, and not a redux o...more
Cunningham barely got me through this rather lazily written book where very little happens and where I was was left struggling hard to care about any of the rather hazily drawn characters.
The plot: a middle aged art dealer gets romantically obsessed with his wife's little brother.
The big problem is the narrative- it is overly self-conscious. It is full of constant asides to tell (not show) us the reason for this or that aspect of human behaviour. At first it seems rather sex and the city hip an...more
The plot: a middle aged art dealer gets romantically obsessed with his wife's little brother.
The big problem is the narrative- it is overly self-conscious. It is full of constant asides to tell (not show) us the reason for this or that aspect of human behaviour. At first it seems rather sex and the city hip an...more
I read this book for book club, so I stuck with it even though I typically dislike stories like this. Here's a guy who is getting older, but he has a great career, great loft, cool clothes, and beautiful wife who has an equally challenging and interesting career and yet manages to make dinner. . .including chocolate mousse.
Oh, but he has such problems. Life is passing him by. People he knows and loves have died. His wife is getting older. Young people look so deliciously, young. He may die and...more
Oh, but he has such problems. Life is passing him by. People he knows and loves have died. His wife is getting older. Young people look so deliciously, young. He may die and...more
How quickly can you fall in love? And just how unsuitable might the person be? I could probably go to the extremes on both these questions so this book was entirely credible for me and agreat pleasure to read - I would like to give it 3 and a half stars if this were possible. I liked it from the time I went to the Wheeler Centre to hear Micahel Cunningham talk about his work. He's one of those terribly agreeable and charming Americans - the kind of bloke you know you would love sitting next to a...more
Why, oh why, do I keep reading Michael Cunninghams novels. I truly have not enjoyed anything he has written since THE HOURS. Perhaps he set the bar so high with that book that everything else he writes pales in comparison. All I know for certain is that while I was ambivalent about SPECIMEN DAYS, I truly disliked BY NIGHTFALL. Perhaps I was not sufficiently enamored with the seeds of psychological insight being expressed by our protagonist Peter Harris. Peter is experiencing a mid-life crisis of...more
This was a difficult book to read. Cunningham is such a wonderful writer that I would probably read his grocery store lists if he published them but ... this was painful. The portrait of a middle-aged man who has everything except....passion......there were points at which it almost listed into boredom. Who cares about this man and his wife ...who, in answer to the question, Are you comfortable? Could indeed respond, "I make a living," but who cannot really be said to be living. But......Cunning...more
I love Michael Cunningham. I’ve actually read all his books except Flesh and Blood (and I’ve bought it, so I’m rectifying that soon). I think the man is incredibly talented.
By Nightfall was probably the book I was looking forward to the most in 2010. I was so impatient for the book that I couldn’t wait till the UK version came out, and I am so, so glad that Cunningham didn’t disappoint.
The story centres around three people: Peter and Rebecca, a married couple, and Mizzy, Rebecca’s younger broth...more
By Nightfall was probably the book I was looking forward to the most in 2010. I was so impatient for the book that I couldn’t wait till the UK version came out, and I am so, so glad that Cunningham didn’t disappoint.
The story centres around three people: Peter and Rebecca, a married couple, and Mizzy, Rebecca’s younger broth...more
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Peter Harris brings to the reader an opportunity to consider decisions made, and roads not taken. He pursues beauty and art, he strives to be of value to himself and to others, and he is perplexed by the slowing of his successes. It seems that even as early as one's 40's, aging is problematic for those who envisioned more out of life.
I found Peter's dilemmas gave me a sense of unease as he explored his sexual inclinations, because his perspective seemed unsubstantiated by the characters around h...more
I found Peter's dilemmas gave me a sense of unease as he explored his sexual inclinations, because his perspective seemed unsubstantiated by the characters around h...more
Michael Cunningham is such a sensitive writer, who describes a character’s inner world with meticulousness and nuance. In this novel, he tells the story of Peter Harris, a forty-something gallery owner who awakens to his own fears and desires when his sister’s younger, wayward brother shows up for a visit. It is a fascinating book about an unexpected emotional journey.
“By Nightfall” is a wonderfully crafted novel – moving, heartbreaking, and intriguing; however, the one reason I would have diff...more
“By Nightfall” is a wonderfully crafted novel – moving, heartbreaking, and intriguing; however, the one reason I would have diff...more
I enjoyed the sophistication of this book: its settings, charectors and exploration of sexuality.
Starred Review* Peter Harris, a dispirited Soho gallery owner in his midforties, arrives home to find his wife in the shower and marvels at how lithe she looks through the steam, then realizes that he’s admiring her much younger brother. Called the Mistake, or Mizzy, he’s a lost soul, a junkie and moocher as sexy as he is manipulative. Mizzy appears just as Peter, brooding, romantic, and self-depreca...more
Starred Review* Peter Harris, a dispirited Soho gallery owner in his midforties, arrives home to find his wife in the shower and marvels at how lithe she looks through the steam, then realizes that he’s admiring her much younger brother. Called the Mistake, or Mizzy, he’s a lost soul, a junkie and moocher as sexy as he is manipulative. Mizzy appears just as Peter, brooding, romantic, and self-depreca...more
Fiction is about finding truth in imagination. That gives writers license to occupy someone else’s time or milieu, to be whom they are not—another class, another gender, another race.
The test is readers’ belief. Characters have to be real. They must do what they do because of what they are, rather than doing what the writer wants to prove he can make them do.
Perhaps Michael Cunningham felt that a challenging test of his ability to make his readers believe was to write about a straight man sudde...more
The test is readers’ belief. Characters have to be real. They must do what they do because of what they are, rather than doing what the writer wants to prove he can make them do.
Perhaps Michael Cunningham felt that a challenging test of his ability to make his readers believe was to write about a straight man sudde...more
Midway through Michael Cunnigham's slim new novel, By Nightfall, a character describes a rich woman's expensively decorated living room as "...so magnificent it transcends its own pretensions." That's also a good description for what Cunningham must've hoped his novel would be. But since it's not exactly magnificent, we're pretty much left with just pretentious. And the novel, though well-crafted, sure is that.
But the novel failed for another reason, too: Its protagonist is an utter dolt. Far be...more
But the novel failed for another reason, too: Its protagonist is an utter dolt. Far be...more
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Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
Michael Cunningham is the author of the novels A Home at the End of the World, Flesh and Blood, The Hours (winner of the Pen/Faulkner Award and the Pulitzer Prize), and Specimen Days. His most recent novel is By Nightfall. He lives in New York.
http://us.macmillan.com/autho...more
More about Michael Cunningham...
Michael Cunningham is the author of the novels A Home at the End of the World, Flesh and Blood, The Hours (winner of the Pen/Faulkner Award and the Pulitzer Prize), and Specimen Days. His most recent novel is By Nightfall. He lives in New York.
http://us.macmillan.com/autho...more
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